Long story short, I wrote some code, did some mining, and ended up crawling the entire US iTunes App Store, and from this I have compiled some statistics.

Let’s start with some ground stats:

• There are currently 57,292 applications active in the iTunes App Store
• Of this 23,564 are games, leaving 33,728 other applications
• Average price across the store: $2.18
• Average price for games: $1.36
• Average price for other applications: $2.76

Broken down into categories, this is what the distribution of games looks like:

And other types of applications broken down into categories:

You can then break down each application in pricing segments:

And finally, below is the growth rate since the App Store opened considering applications that are still active and available:

For those more statistically minded than me, I’ve uploaded some of these stats to a Google spreadsheet, and if you’re interested in something not included in that, leave a comment and I’ll see if I can add to it.

This guide is for owners of iPhones that came with firmware 1.1.1 or earlier out of the box. Unfortunately, iPhones that came with firmware 1.1.2 or 1.1.3 out of the box run a newer version of a key software component (called the bootloader) that prevents unlocking using this method.

Note: I do not warrant these instructions. While I have taken the utmost care in writing them, and have performed the steps on several iPhones successfully, you can break things and I am not responsible if you brick your phone (though I will try and help if you do).

0. Prerequisites

• Conceited Software’s 1.1.2 jailbreak tools (here)
• Apple’s iPhone firmware 1.1.1 package (here)
• Apple’s iPhone firmware 1.1.2 package (here)
• Region Fix files (here)

1. Restore to firmware 1.1.1

The best way to start is with a fresh iPhone running firmware 1.1.1. If your iPhone is running a firmware prior to 1.1.1 and you haven’t unlocked, or you are currently running firmware 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 either unlocked or locked, you can proceed with these instructions. If you have unlocked your phone with firmware before 1.1.1, you need to virginize your baseband before continuing (unfortunately, I can’t cover that process here). If you have upgraded your phone to firmware 1.1.3 with iTunes already, this guide isn’t for you.

1. Connect your phone to iTunes and let it detect it, it doesn’t matter if it is activated or not.
2. With the phone still plugged in, hold the power and home buttons until the screen goes black, then let go of just the power button while still holding the home button. Within about 10 seconds, iTunes should say it has detected an iPhone in restore mode, but the device’s screen should still be black. If the iPhone’s screen isn’t still black or iTunes doesn’t detect the phone, try again.
3. Hold the shift key if you are running Windows, or the option key on a Mac, and click the restore button in iTunes.
4. Browse to where you saved the 1.1.1 firmware file from the prerequisites section. It should end with .ipsw, if it doesn’t, rename it first.
5. iTunes will flash your phone. It may report error 1015 at the end of the process, but this is expected.
6. Close iTunes and extract Conceited Software’s jailbreak tools. From the extracted files, Windows users double click on windows.bat, Mac users double click jailbreak.jar, then in the new window click the ‘Boot From Recovery’ button. This should bring your iPhone to the activation screen.

2. Activate firmware 1.1.1, install Installer

With your phone at the activation screen:

1. Slide to get to the emergency call screen
2. Enter *#307# and press call, your phone will start ringing
3. Delete the numbers just entered, enter 0 and press call. This will take you to a screen where you can answer the incoming ‘call’
4. Press answer, then hold, and when the phone starts ringing again, press decline. You will now be in the phone application
5. Go to Contacts, then add a new contact. Add the URLs prefs://11 and http://jailbreakme.com to the contact and save it
6. Press the prefs://11 URL, which should take you to the WiFi configuration screen. Configure for your WiFi access point as normal, then press the Settings button at the top of the screen to go to the settings menu, select General and turn Autolock to never. Press the home button
7. You will now be at the activate screen. Slide to go to the emergency call screen, enter 0 and press call and your phone will start to ring. Press answer, then hold, then when the phone starts ringing again, press decline. You will be back in the phone application
8. Make sure iTunes is open and connect the iPhone to your computer. Let iTunes recognize it as not activated
9. Select the second URL on the contact you created in step 5. This will open Safari with jailbreakme.com open. Scroll to the bottom and press ‘Install AppSnap’. Your phone should go back to the activate screen. Slide to get to the emergency call screen, then leave the device to do its work. It should restart itself after a few minutes. If it doesn’t, restart it manually and try again from step 7. Otherwise, once it restarts you should have an activated iPhone with Installer on your home screen
10. Once the above is complete, run Installer, select the ‘Tweaks (1.1.1)’ category, and install OktoPrep

3. Update to firmware 1.1.2 and jailbreak

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and allow iTunes to detect it
2. Hold the shift key if you are running Windows, or the option key on a Mac, and click the update button in iTunes.
3. Browse to where you saved the 1.1.2 firmware file from the prerequisites section. It should end with .ipsw, if it doesn’t, rename it first.
4. Your phone should upgrade without a problem, then return to the activation screen on firmware 1.1.2. Close iTunes and extract Conceited Software’s jailbreak tools. From the extracted files, Windows users double click on windows.bat, Mac users double click jailbreak.jar.
5. Click the jailbreak button at the bottom of the new window. This will jailbreak your phone, activate it, and fix YouTube so it will work. If your iPhone doesn’t automatically restart once the process is complete, hold the power button to switch it off. When you do, it may restart itself one or more times.

4. Unlock the Baseband and Update to Firmware 1.1.3

Steps 4-7 in this section are optional, only do them if you wish to unlock your phone. If you just want to jailbreak your phone, or you have already unlocked your iPhone while running firmware 1.1.1 or greater previously, you do not need to do them.

1. Open Installer from your home screen and go to the Install tab.
2. Go to the System category and install the BSD Subsystem
3. Switch to the Update tab and press the Update All button at the top of the screen. This will install a new version of Installer that would have become available after the previous step.
4. Go back to the Install tab and into the Utilities category. Select and install anySIM 1.1.2u. Note that the version number is important.
5. Press the phone’s home button to exit Installer, go to the iPhone’s Settings screen and turn Airplane Mode on, then go to General and make sure auto-lock is still set to Never.
6. Press the home button again then launch anySIM from the home screen. Follow the on-screen instructions
7. Once you have restarted your phone, go to Settings and turn Airplane Mode off.
8. Open Installer, go to the Install tab, and go to the System category. Install the package called Official 1.1.3 Upgrader
9. Press the home button and launch the Upgrade application from the home screen, then press yes in the two dialog boxes that appear. Now sit back and wait for the iPhone to download and install the 1.1.3 upgrade – it can take a very long time. If the Unlock application closes before restarting your iPhone, just run it again and it will pick up where it left off. When it completes, it will automatically restart your iPhone, and you will be running firmware 1.1.3 unlocked and jailbroken.

5. Fix Other Region Phone Number Recognition

1. Go to Settings -> General and set Autolock to Never
2. Open Installer, go to the Install tab and the Sources category and install Community Sources.
3. Go to the System category and install the BSD Subsystem
4. Go back to the System category and install OpenSSH
5. Make sure your phone is connected to your WiFi network and note it’s IP address, which can be found by pressing the small arrow beside the network name in the settings screen. From your PC, open an FTP program that is compatible with SFTP (WinSCP on Windows, Fetch on a Mac).
6. Enter your iPhone’s IP address to connect to, then the username root and password alpine
7. In the FTP program, browse to the folder /System/Library/Frameworks/AppSupport.framework (use the built in help of your FTP application to find out how to do this)
8. Extract the RegionFix.zip file from the prerequisites section and upload all the files/directories into the above folder on your iPhone, overwriting existing files as necessary

You will now have a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone running firmware 1.1.3 that is able to be used in almost any region. Please note that there is an issue in the 1.1.3 firmware where SMS messages can appear out of order: this is a problem with Apple’s firmware that the company has recognized, and turning on Network Time from the Settings screen fixes it in most situations.

Please keep the comments on this post relevant. If you are using this guide and get stuck or have questions, feel free to ask. If you aren’t using this guide or want to ask a question that isn’t relevant, please do not do it here.

Microsoft Office 2008 is a prime example of Microsoft taking the proven Mac way of doing things and trying to make it better. At this task, they have failed, and what results is a mess of Microsoft thinking on a Mac framework.

The first thing that I noticed is the toolbar, which indeed mimics the standard Leopard toolbar, but is actually Microsoft’s implementation of it and as such the look just isn’t the same. This make Office stand out amongst other Mac applications, and I have absolutely no idea why Microsoft couldn’t just use the standard toolbar. These little user interface inconsistencies are one of the reasons I left the Windows platform, yet Microsoft has again felt the need to make things that little bit different.

The second most annoying thing I have come across are the useless and absurd effects applied across the UI, especially in the Mac equivalent of the ribbon from Office 07. Every click on any element in this area triggers transition effects, and while they might look pretty the first time you see them, it adds a significant amount of time to navigate around and find things in the applications. These effects extend to most of the UI, and even the small view change icons in the lower left-hand corner of the windows glimmer and blink when you point at them. Why?

The design of the Preferences window also bugs me, albeit to a lesser extent. The window pointlessly attempts to mimic the Mac OS System Preferences window, and this really just makes accessing preferences cumbersome and slow – why can the preference windows not look like they do on every other Mac application?

In any event, these UI-level problems aren’t completely deal-breakers, and I am yet to really evaluate the Office 08 applications for their intended purposes. Word is my most used Office application and I will be using the new version to put together my next review, so time will tell if it is good enough to drag me away from Pages.

I have been messing around for a day or so trying to get this to work, but I think I’ve nailed the method for upgrading an unlocked and jailbroken iPhone to firmware 1.1.2, and preserving the unlock and jailbreak. What follows are the steps to get your iPhone to 1.1.2 written as simply as I could manage. These instructions look long (and they are), but they are easy to follow and anyone with basic computer skills should be able to get it done. Remember: there is no predicament that you can get your phone into that can’t be repaired.

Note: I do not warrant these instructions. While I have taken the utmost care in writing them, and have performed the steps on my own iPhone successfully, you can break things and I am not responsible if you brick your phone (though I will try and help if you do).

Now that we have that out of the way, here are the steps. This assumes you are currently using firmware 1.1.1; if you need a guide for getting to 1.1.1, leave a comment and if there is demand for it I will make one. You also need access to a WiFi network with internet access. If you don’t wish to unlock your phone, instead just performing a jailbroken upgrade, skip to step 4.8. It is possible to run the unlock application from within firmware 1.1.2, but I do not recommend it – there have been reported problems doing so, and doing it this way is the safe bet.

0. Prerequisites
   

   • Conceited Software’s 1.1.2 jailbreak tools (here)
   • the iphone-elite team’s custom anySIM 1.2u (here)
   • Apple’s iPhone firmware 1.1.1 package (here)
   • Apple’s iPhone firmware 1.1.2 package (here)
   • AppTap Installer for Windows users (here), or iNdependence 1.3.2 beta for Mac users (here)

1. Upgrade to 1.1.2 through iTunes
   

   Surprisingly, step one is to actually perform an upgrade. This may sound counter-intuitive, but to unlock the device, you need to be running the latest version of the baseband firmware (the part that controls the phone functions of the device). If you are running firmware 1.1.1, you are ready to do the upgrade.

   1. Connect your iPhone to iTunes, let it recognize it as unactivated.
   2. With the phone still plugged in, hold the power and home buttons until the screen goes black, then let go of just the power button while still holding the home button. Within about 10 seconds, iTunes should say it has detected an iPhone in restore mode, but the device’s screen should still be black. If the iPhone’s screen isn’t still black, try again.
   3. Hold the shift key if you are running Windows, or the option key on a Mac, and click the restore button in iTunes.
   4. Browse to where you saved the 1.1.2 firmware file from the prerequisites section. It should end with .ipsw, if it doesn’t, rename it first.
   5. Your iPhone should sucessfully flash to firmware 1.1.2 and restart.

2. Downgrade to firmware 1.1.1
   

   This is a crucial step if you are unlocking your device. The iphone-elite team’s unlock application works great on the latest baseband version, but only runs from firmware 1.1.1. Here’s how to roll back to firmware 1.1.1, but continue running the new baseband:

   1. Connect your recently updated phone to iTunes, let it recognize it as unactivated.
   2. With the phone still plugged in, hold the power and home buttons until the screen goes black, then let go of just the power button while still holding the home button. Within about 10 seconds, iTunes should say it has detected an iPhone in restore mode, but the device’s screen should still be black. If the iPhone’s screen isn’t still black, try again.
   3. Hold the shift key if you are running Windows, or the option key on a Mac, and click the restore button in iTunes.
   4. Browse to where you saved the 1.1.1 firmware file from the prerequisites section. It should end with .ipsw, if it doesn’t, rename it first.
   5. iTunes will flash your phone, but will fail with error 1015, this is expected.
   6. Close iTunes. If you are using a Mac, extract and run iNdependence, which should bring your phone back to the activation screen after a minute or so. Windows users, run AppTap Installer. It will fail, but should still bring your iPhone to the activation screen.

3. Activate firmware 1.1.1, install Installer.app
   

   With your phone at the activation screen:

   1. Slide to get to the emergency call screen
   2. Enter *#307# and press call, your phone will start ringing
   3. Delete the numbers just entered, enter 0 and press call. This will take you to a screen where you can answer the incoming ‘call’
   4. Press answer, then hold, and when the phone starts ringing again, press decline. You will now be in the phone application
   5. Go to Contacts, then add a new contact. Add the URLs prefs://11 and http://jailbreakme.com to the contact and save it
   6. Press the prefs://11 URL, which should take you to the WiFi configuration screen. Configure for your WiFi access point as normal, then press the Settings button at the top of the screen to go to the settings menu, select General and turn Auto Lock to never. Press the home button
   7. You will now be at the activate screen. Slide to go to the emergency call screen, enter 0 and press call and your phone will start to ring. Press answer, then hold, then when the phone starts ringing again, press decline. You will be back in the phone application
   8. Select the second URL on the contact you created in step 5. This will open Safari with jailbreakme.com open. Scroll to the bottom and press Install AppSnap. Your phone should go back to the activate screen, then restart itself after a few minutes. If it doesn’t, restart it manually and try again from step 7. Otherwise, once it restarts you should have an activated iPhone with the Installer.app on your home screen

4. Unlock and prepare the iPhone for firmware 1.1.1
   

   1. Run Installer.app and let it download any required updates
   2. Select Install at the bottom of the screen, scroll to System and install the BSD Subsystem, then scroll to the Network category and install OpenSSH. Reboot your phone
   3. Extract the AnySIM zip file from the prerequisites section and rename the resulting folder to anySIM.app
   4. Connect your phone to your WiFi network and note it’s IP address, which can be seen by pressing the small arrow beside the network name in the settings screen. From your PC, open an FTP program that is compatible with SFTP (WinSCP on Windows, Fetch on a Mac).
   5. Enter your iPhone’s IP address to connect to, then the username root and password alpine
   6. Browse to /Applications on your phone and upload the entire anySIM.app folder to your phone. You should now have the folder /Applications/anySIM.app full of files
   7. In your SFTP program, open the folder you just uploaded, and right click (Ctrl click on a Mac) on the first file in the list (it should just be called ‘anySIM’). In Fetch, select Get Info, then in the new window expand the Ownership and Permissions section and check the box next to Execute in the Owner section. In WinSCP, select Properties, and check the box next to X in the Owner section near the bottom of the new window.
   8. Restart your iPhone, then press the new anySIM icon on your home screen. Follow the instructions from anySIM
   9. Once the above is complete, run Installer.app, select the ‘Tweaks (1.1.1)’ category, and install OktoPrep

5. Upgrade to firmware 1.1.2 and jailbreak
   

   1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and allow iTunes to detect it
   2. Hold the shift key if you are running Windows, or the option key on a Mac, and click the update button in iTunes.
   3. Browse to where you saved the 1.1.2 firmware file from the prerequisites section. It should end with .ipsw, if it doesn’t, rename it first.
   4. Your phone should upgrade without a problem, then return to the activation screen on firmware 1.1.2. Close iTunes and extract Conceited Software’s jailbreak tools. From the extracted files, Windows users double click on ‘windows.bat,’ Mac users double click ‘jailbreak.jar.’
   5. Check the Install SSH box, then enter a password that will be used if you want to connect to your device later on, then click the big jailbreak button. This will jailbreak your phone, activate it, and fix YouTube so it will work

For those users using SIM cards from a country that currently sells the iPhone, such as the US, UK, and Germany, that’s it! You now have an activated, jailbroken, and unlocked iPhone ready to go.

Users that are attempting to use a SIM card from another country, you still have a few more steps to go. Flick over to the next page for the meat.

After viewing this video in particular, one can see that at this point in the development cycle, it appears as though Google is looking to pull in the best features of Windows Mobile and the iPhone UI. On first inspection, Android looks most like Windows Mobile, especially the home screen. Once the device is in use, however, a very ‘smooth’ quality reminiscant of the iPhone can be seen. The browser especially is obviously modeled off Apple’s efforts, though there is a lack of finish at this early stage.

The most interesting and exciting part of Android is the level of openness. The iPhone is a great product, but like many Apple releases, it is basically Apple’s way or the highway. Sure, Apple has now announced an SDK for third party applications, but it is an afterthought, rather than Google’s release of an SDK months before devices are in the hands of customers.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone, but should Android provide the same slick UI elements on an open platform, I will switch in a second. Many features demonstrated on Android so far are available on other handsets, such as Google maps, but with Google’s announcement of a $10 million competition for the best applications, I am looking forward to seeing what can be done. Particularity, I am keen to see where developers go with the built-in OpenGL support. Already Google has shown some pretty cool features, though, like Street View in the Maps application.

What I am really curious about is where this leaves the Apple/Google relationship. Google is basically releasing the best competitor to the iPhone, despite Eric Schmidt serving on Apple’s board, and Google taking a large part in the development of the iPhone. I was surprised at Google’s involvement with the development of the iPhone originally, considering its love of all things open, and this proves my point in a way.

Indeed, if Android shapes up to be the open version of the iPhone as it is appearing as at this early stage, there might just be an iPhone for sale out of my place.

It is the top-end 15″ model, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, and 160GB HD. It screams, and so far I have very little to complain about with it. My only issues thus far: the screen doesn’t open wide enough for how I sit it on my lap, my Logitech MX Revolution mouse doesn’t work quite right, and Firefox looks pathetic on Mac OS. Only one of those issues is Apple’s fault, though it is incredibly minor, and other than that I am completely satisfied with the machine and Leopard.

And yes, I am completely aware of the lack of originality in the title of this post.

On top of that, I came in to work on Friday to see my new workstation waiting for me on my desk. That box is a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, and twin 20″ LCDs (1600×1200 resolution each). Thanks boss, but it isn’t a Mac…

Let me say this right off the bad: the iPhone is not a device I would buy myself. It is an influential device that will do fantastically in the market, that is for sure, but its omissions are too deal breaking for me. They are also things that could have been easily remedied by Apple, and I am sure they will be fixed in a second-generation product, but for now I will do without a device that can’t record video, use 3G networks and A2DP headphones, and other things I appreciate. But more on my actual iPhone pros and cons in a future post.

What the iPhone has achieved though, is forcing the industry in general to rethink the whole user interface paradigm. Touch sensitive devices have long used a stylus, and are only now evolving to use the finger. This fact, combined with the swishing, swirling, and sliding seen in the iPhone’s UI make it a much more organic device, one that consumers may find easier to ‘relate’ to.

On top of this more organic approach to UI design, the iPhone’s interface just looks so damn good. Sure, Windows Mobile is functional, S60 is pretty, and so on, but the iPhone interface is sexy. User interface design cannot take a back seat to device design any longer, and Apple has shown us that an attractive physical design can be accompanied by a functional and attractive UI design.

While other manufacturers may not have to play catch up to Apple with technical specifications, they definitely need to with UI design. Verizon’s new Motorola Q9m features a fun circular UI enhancement, and devices like the LG Prada and HTC Touch are certainly steps in the right direction, but the iPhone just integrates everything so nicely; this is what Apple does best.

The iPhone is not the device it could have been, but for UI design, it is revolutionary. If manufacturers take nothing else away from the iPhone release, I hope it at least forces them to take a step back and reevaluate the user interface experience.

[Watch] – via YouTube